Public finance

The city comptroller says Buffalo's finances are in dire shape, and is fighting in court not to issue debt authorized by the mayor and city council.

The utility responded that it is not eligible to declare bankruptcy.

"Investors were not disappointed," said John Kerschner, global head of securitized products and portfolio manager at Janus Henderson. "Inflation came in softer than expected, leading to a tepid bond market rally" and ensuring a rate cut at the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

The northern California school district has been struggling for years and on several occasions abandoned plans to consolidate schools, which rating agencies say might have shored up finances.

Mayor Brandon Johnson released to City Council a report from accounting firm Ernst & Young with recommendations for closing the city's structural budget gap.

The city council president is concerned about state bond commission approval.

The upgrade is driven by realized and expected improvement in the state's financial metrics, the rating agency said.

"We're not going to be having huge reinvestment months over the next few months, not until the beginning of the year. So we need this flow [of deals] to keep up with demand, and we expect that to continue," said Jennifer Johnston, director of municipal bonds research at Franklin Templeton.

The approval of $650 million of revenue bonds comes in the wake of a recently filed petition seeking to subject the project to voter approval or delay.

North Carolina's triple-A ratings were affirmed ahead of plans to sell up to $506 million in general obligation and limited obligation bonds.

The tax-exempt market is expected to be "biased higher" in the coming weeks and months as the expected heavy pace of issuance this month will not be as "oppressive" as feared, said Pat Luby, head of municipal strategy at CreditSights.

The city is gearing up to sell $252 million of general obligation bonds this year and $1.5 billion of revenue bonds in 2026 for a convention center project.

The Cleveland City Council will decide whether to approve a deal struck by Mayor Justin Bibb with Haslam Sports Group, owners of the NFL's Cleveland Browns.

92% of the holders or insurers of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bonds reportedly now oppose the Oversight Board's proposed restructuring deal.

"I've never seen this level of hand wringing at the issuer level," said Matt Boles, managing director at RBC Capital Markets.

Brandon Johnson released his $16.6 billion 2026 budget last week. The budget calls for new revenue sources, but avoids property tax hikes.

Prior to Dimensional's approval, only Vanguard held a patent to the ETF-as-a-share-class structure, but the patent expired in 2023.

Demand may strengthen as "investors anticipate the Federal Reserve's likely path of rate cuts, which would drive yields even lower," said Tom Kozlik, managing director and head of public policy and municipal strategy at HilltopSecurities.

This will be Charvel's second stint as the city's CFO.